The strong feelings about the war make it a tricky issue for teachers.
At Rundlett Middle School in Concord, two social studies teachers try to strike the right balance.
They want to give students a chance to talk frankly about the conflict in Iraq.
But they want them to appreciate that the facts on the ground don’t lead to a single right answer.
NHPR’s Dan Gorenstein reports.
Immediately after the US began its military campaign in Iraq, Rundlett Middle School’s principal emailed the faculty.
7th grade Social Studies teacher Dan McGuarian says the note outlined how to handle discussion with the students.
Track 5
1:25 … we should allow children the freedom to express their concern to let them vent what is on their minds, but let’s not have it overtake our curriculum day to day.
The war in Iraq is hardly part of the 7th grade social studies curriculum.
They cover Western European history from the Fall of Rome to the 18th Century.
But once a week 7th grade teacher Brian Huckins asks his students to select any article, or news item related to world news.
Huckins expects them to consider some of the 5 w’s, who the news is about, when it occurred, what the story is about.
And one other.
Track 11
:13 …what is your gut reaction to the article…I put in parentheses, this is the most important part of to the assignment.
Huckins reads one student’s ‘gut reaction’ answer from a story titled ‘US Military Planners Discuss Risks and Logistics of Iraq Invasion.’
1:02 ‘my reaction is that I am not afraid, b/c they will not be able to do anything to our homeland, b/c of our strong and amazing security here in the US. I am also on the other hand, put down that we have to go to war in the first place, b/c of the risk of losing people from our country, but I think it has to be done.’
The two teachers agree students seem more subdued than usual.
Particularly given the warm turn in weather, after Concord’s very cold, snowy winter.
On the other hand, some students hardly seem to notice the war in the Middle-East.
But even with the varying interest levels, Dan McGuarian says there’s value to the conversations.
3:48 … it’s giving them one more forum to gain understanding. For example one young man said he heard Saddam was killed. And various students and myself were reporting back what we had heard, or read….and he left saying I am not so sure if he is out of the picture.
McGuarian proceeds with great care when updating students on the latest war reports.
He takes in all the information he can.
But he says he knows that in his role as teacher, he could easily sway his students’ opinions.
That’s something he shies away from.
Track 9
…I try to facilitate discussion and speak their turn unless they ask me directly, that’s when I say this is what I’ve gathered, this is what I’ve gleaned, but I try to keep it factual, and keep my opinions out of it.
McGuarian says it’s a big challenge to keep his opinions out of those discussions.
Brian Huckins concurs.
4:26 … you do your best to camoflage your true feelings by trying to always raise an opposing view point…reasons to go to war with Iraq. Reasons to not go to war with Iraq.
Huckins himself was an 8th grader during the 1991 Gulf War.
He remembers not grasping the full magnitude of that conflict.
In a way, he hopes his students enjoy a similar distance from this one.
Track 14
3:06 …I don’t want to stress my students out. I don’t want them to go home panic-stricken worried about, is the US going to be invaded. I don’t want them to worry about things adults have to worry about, b/c they have a better understanding of things. I want them to be aware of it, but I want them to be a kid, do your homework, play with your friends, have a good weekend, not dwell on the issues…
That dwelling can be done by Huckins and McGuarian.
Who after all, feel obliged to sift the news in an effort to understand it, and try to share just the right amount of it with their students.
For NHPR News, I’m DG.
